What’s better than walking the Met Gala red carpet with your partner? Wearing something they designed for the occasion.
Sam Smith and their partner, designer Christian Cowan, attended the 2026 Met Gala together — both in custom looks by none other than Cowan himself. Smith and Cowan’s matching black couture was inspired by the 1920s pioneer illustrator and designer Erté, who worked at the intersection of art and fashion and whose work has graced the cover of Vogue.
Smith’s sculptural look perfectly embodied this year’s Met Gala dress code, “Fashion is Art.” Smith’s coat was adorned with over 230,000 crystals and beads, hand-placed by a team of 45 artisans over 800 hours of work. Cowen’s 1920s tailoring, adorned with more than 25,000 hand-applied beads, complemented his partner’s look. To complete their look, Smith wore a custom headpiece created in collaboration between Cowan and milliner Stephen Jones, as well as jewelry by Cartier.
Smith shared a closer look at their couture through an Instagram post made minutes before the Vogue red carpet live stream began. In the post, Smith shared a quote from Erté that reads “Art is not a thing; it’s a way.”
This marks Smith and Cowan’s third Met Gala appearance together. After being publicly linked in 2023, the five-time Grammy Winner and New York-based fashion designer made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2024 Met Gala, where they also wore coordinated designs by Cowan. In 2025, the duo graced the carpet again in complementary couture by the designer that captured the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”
